Tony Stewart wins the 2016 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

Snapping a lengthy winless streak, Tony Stewart returned to Victory Lane with a memorable last lap pass of Denny Hamlin to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

The victory was Stewart’s first since May 2013 at Dover International Speedway, a span of 84 races, and comes in the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion’s final season before retiring.

“To get a win, especially at a place you’re going to for the last time, it means a bunch,” Stewart said. “It’s special, trust me.”

A caution for a spring rubber sitting on the track vaulted Stewart, who had just completed a green flag pit stop when NASCAR displayed the caution due to debris, into the lead following a series of pit stops with 21 laps left.

Stewart then maintained that position until the last lap when Hamlin went around Stewart after contact in Turn 7, only for Stewart to retake the lead with a power move underneath Hamlin entering the final corner of the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course.

As Stewart moved alongside Hamlin, the two made contact that sent Hamlin bouncing off the outside wall. Hamlin anticipated Stewart’s attempt to force his way by, but Hamlin provided an opening when he wheel-hopped going into the hairpin corner.

“You can’t crack the door open with me on the last corner of the last lap and expect me to not take it,” Stewart said. “I’ll kick the door in or drive a bulldozer through it to keep it open.”

Stewart missed the first eight races of his final season recovering from a broken back sustained in a January all-terrain vehicle accident. He had previously announced last September that 2016 would be his last competing in NASCAR, preferring to concentrate on his other business interests in addition to racing sprint cars part-time.

With the victory Stewart completed one of the two necessary requirements mandated by NASCAR for any driver who misses a race to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup; the other is finishing the regular season ranked 30th higher in the standings. Stewart moved to 32nd overall, nine points behind the threshold to become playoff-eligible with 10 regular season races remaining.

“I don’t know if I’m going to get another scenario or opportunity to win another race the rest of the year,” Stewart said. “I wasn’t going to be cordial in the exit of the corner and I roughed him up pretty good. If it has been a street fight, he’d have had two black eyes after that. I used him up pretty hard.”

Hamlin finished second, with Joey Logano third. The runner-up equaled Hamlin’s best result in 21 career road course starts.

“I should have not left the bottom open,” Hamlin said. “I thought if I leave the bottom open maybe (Stewart) will think he can get there in a different kind of way. I just overshot the corner a little bit. Still a pretty good day. This is definitely a step in the right direction on the road course, but man utterly disappointed.

“Once (Stewart) had the inside position, we weren’t going to drag race it out. I knew he was going to put me into the wall. He was doing what he had to do and we did what we had to do in turn. All is fair in love and war.”

Carl Edwards, who started on the pole and led 24 laps early, finished fourth with Martin Truex Jr. fifth. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch completed the top 10.